Subway Adventures

It is weekends like this that I really miss having a car. Yesterday morning I met two of my students (Natalie and Jin) to go to a market in Seoul where they sold a lot of musical instruments. Our goal was to find a cello for me. I am happy to report that we did find one, and I like it a lot! I had forgotten how stressful it was to shop for an instrument though...

We found a store that looked like it had some good quality instruments, and there were a few in my price range, so I started trying to talk to the salesman. I was really glad that Natalie and Jin were there to help translate. There were only two cellos that were in my price range that I wanted to put through the paces. It was quite the ordeal. I was trying to figure out how each cello was built, what kind of wood was used for it, and what sort of shapes were happening on the inside. 

Then, we tried a few different sets of strings and a few different bows on both cellos. It is absolutely amazing how much difference a set of strings and a different bow can make in the sound of an instrument. We finally got everything translated and figured out, and I'm quite happy with the instrument. 

After that, we went to look around a traditional market that was a few streets over. Natalie and Jin are going to spend a month in New Zealand, and they wanted gifts for their host families and I wanted to do some Christmas shopping. I almost finished my Christmas shopping though! It required quite a bit of creativity to find something that wasn't fragile, heavy or ridiculous for everyone, but I think it will be ok!

When it was time to go home, I was carrying the cello on my back, Jin was carrying the largish box that had the cello stand in it, and Natalie was carrying our collective shopping bags. We had about an hour long trip on the subway, and we made quite the spectacle. It would have been so nice to be able to throw everything into the trunk of a car!

When I got home that night, I made a birthday cake for one of my friends who was having a surprise birthday party tonight after church. All things considered, I think it turned out pretty well! I only had to go to four different stores to find all of the ingredients that I needed! ::sigh:: It is times like that I really miss Wal Mart!

This morning I taught my English Sunday school class, then went to an organizers meeting for Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, then went to English church and the birthday party. When I left, I had my large Bible, my Sunday school materials, meeting materials, and the cake. And I had to carry that all the way across Seoul on the subway. I suppose that things like this build character, right?

If you happen to be reading this on your Monday morning, perhaps the mental picture of me wrangling a cello and a chocolate cake through the Seoul Metro System will make you smile a little bit ;-) I hope you had an equally interesting weekend!!